Row crop chopping and weeding tool



Sept. 21, 1954 R. G. BEGEMAN ET AL Row CROP cHoPPING AND wEEDING TooL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 14, 1950 INVENTOR. ROBERT 6, BEGEMAN BY f?. E WEL L ATTORNEY Sept- 21 1954 R. G. BEGEMAN ET AL 2,689,511

ROW CROP CHOPPING AND WEEIDING TOOL Filed Aug. 14, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 3] *754 INVENTOR.

ROBERT G mEMA/v /gy R. WELL TTURNE Y Patented Sept. 21, 1954 ROW'CROP SHOPPING AND -WEEDIN G 'I0`OL-` Robert Gf Begeman, Lonoke, and R. E. Powell;

North Little Rock, Ark., assignors. to.- BA &

vFarm Tool Company, Little Rock, Ark., a. corporationV of Arkansas Application Augustli, 1950, Serial No;-179,242:`

(Cl. 97u22)` 9 Claims. 1` Theinvention relates to a-chopping and weedlng tool for` attachmentto the cultivator. beamof tractors to chop or thin row cropssuchf as cot-- ton, sugar beets, lettuce` and so forth.

Summary Our. invention comprises alehopper wheel. having cutting bladesmounted in pairs around its.

periphery and forming two substantially parallel series of blades with forwardly directed cutting..

edges,` and supportingstructure; for mounting' the wheelon thecultivator beam of a tractor in such a manner as not to interfere with the` cultivating tocils,thusl permitting chopping and cultivation toy be carried out at, `the same` time and in a singlev operation. The supporting structure in cludes` an axle for the wheel and a pivotal mountfor the axle,`the pivotal mounting being at an` angle substantially removed from the;vertical and4 the axis of the. axlebeing disposed at an acute angleto the axis of the pivotalmounting,whereby the plane of the. wheelnis automatically.` adjustablewith respect to the vertical to-varythe relative depths of cut` takenby the blades. of!A the twoseries. Also it, is particularly advantageous to. have the axisof the axle disposed atan angle in. bothl vertical andrhorizontal directionsV relativeto theaxis of the pivotalmounting.` Alspring;

is arranged to urge. the axle downwardly about thefaxisof its-pivotal mounting aforesaid to control `the overall depth of cut, and an adjustable stops limitsthe. depth of cut to` apredetermined maximum.`

Atparticularfeatureof our invention concernstheform and construction of the chopper. wheel with its two parallel series of cutting blades. We`

have.. found that the designr of the blades and the `arrangement of the, two series of bladesiwith` respect to one another isA of considerable im,-

partance' in securing goodoperation. We employ elongated blades extending lengthwise inzthe generaldirection of rotation of the wheel and extending, crosswise at an angle to the axis of rotationofthe Wheel. The forward edges of the` blades aresharpened and located .farther'from the axis; of the wheel than` are the rearwardV 4edges of the blades.4 This means that the individual` blades inclineforwardly and` downwardly as.4 they are, driven through the soil by the forward motion` ot .the tractor.

` In our preferred construction, theforward` edges of the leading series of blades are closer tio-the` axis of--thel wheelthan are the.' forward edges of the trailing series of blades. However,4 since "therwheeln canY be;` inclined; ,tof-fthe!` vertical,

2'. therleadingserfiesofv blades may make the deeper cutofthe two. Also;- inv our preferred construction` the ends: of the bladesl are turned inwardly at an angle, andthese. ends` are pointed. We have found that. this is quite effective in keep-- ing the ground fromrilak-ing at the sides of the cut, and our chopperhasrproved extremely valu.- able inevercoming trouble heretofore experienced in .chopping cottongrowing incrusty .soils such as-.the adobe soils.of..Colorado and southern Cali-- fornia', and inthebuckshot and gumbo soilsof Texas. Arkansas; Louisiana and Mississippi.

Other features and-advantagesof our invention will appear ini` the following detailed description of the particularform of our invention which we nowi consider to 1. be its -best embodiment.

Description Figi isa front `elevationallview. of` the chopper wheels and associa-ted. supporting, clamping and` depth control mechanism,asmounted at. the re,- spective ends of the` cultivator beam of a conventional formv of tractor..

Fig. 2 is4 aside elevational view of the same.

Fig. 3 is. a plan.` view showingV details of theV supporting structure for. one of! the chopper. wheels.`

Fig. 4 is:` an enlargedl vertical cross-sectional4 View through thewheel and axle, taken as indicated atY 4-4. liig.` 3.'

Figs. 5 andaredetail views of the blades of the chopper wheel, taken. as indicated- .inlig 4y at 5-5.and. tif-4i',` respectively.

InFigs.. 1 and. `2,`. our. chopper attachments, y indicated. generally at 1;, aresh'own. aflixed to the cultivator beam.8 of `a tractor T sketchedin out.-

Ordinarily the:

line with light dot-dash lines. tractor is driven betweenthe1 rows of cotton (or other crop being blocked'or thinned) and cultivates the. two. rows on.v either side. The main` rear drive wheels. of the. tractor straddle the tworows and the frontwheelfor wheels go down.

the middle, while the vcultivator attachments extend. in` line .withztherows .rearwardly .of the main cultivatorbeam 8L Our chopper attachments` preferably arefapproximately belowthe beam and: are carried:` onA supports extending forwardly, and.. l thencedoWnwardlyand `rearwardly with respect.v tothe beam. Inasmuch as the chopper attach.- ments'- on either side of the tractor are alike;

except forright ora left hand. mounting as thel oase mayv be;` itv will sulice to describe here just;v one;` attachment, andzit will bef understood that;

the description,isgapplicablerto both.

An inverted."lai-shapedrbracket.` 9 is secured to.-

. 3 the front of beam 8 by means o-f a U-bolt I0, the washers of the fastenings straddling the legs of bracket 9 as clearly shown in Fig. l. Welded to the inside of the bottom of bracket 9, and projecting forwardly therefrom, is a horizontal supporting arm I I. On this arm rests one leg of an L-shaped bracket I2, and this leg extends between the legs of bracket 9 to which it is adjustably secured by a bolt I3 passing through holes in bracket 9 and any one of a series of holes I4 in bracket I2. Bracket I2 also is fastened to arm Il by a suitable clamp I5. The other leg of bracket I2 extends outwardly at the side of the tractor, and to it is adjustably secured a vertical support IB by means of a suitable clamp indicated generally at I1 and consisting of a pair of U bolts, one above and one below the bracket I2, passing through clamping plates on each side of the bracket, one of these clamping plates being appropriately recessed to mate with support I6.

At the lower end of vertical support I6 is fixed a transverse bearing member I8 providing a pivotal mounting for the axle of the chopper wheel. This pivotal mounting is at an angle substantially removed from the vertical and the axis of the axle 29 is disposed at anacute angle to the axis of the pivotal mounting provided by bearing member I8 aforesaid. The result of this particular arrangement is that the plane of the wheel is automatically adjustable with respect to the Vertical to vary the relative depths of out taken by the blades of the respective parallel series of elongated cutting blades 3|, 32. Also the axis of the axle 2|) is disposed at an angle in both vertical and horizontal directions relative to the axis of the pivotal mounting provided by bearing member I8 aforesaid. The specific mounting has a particular relationship to the specific chopper wheel in that the operation of the mounting affects the relative disposition of the two series of blades. The way the mounting works is this: as axle 20 of the chopper wheel raises and lowers around the axis of bearing member I8, the disposition of axle 20 with respect to the horizontal changes due to the fact that the respective axes of the axle and its pivotal mounting are arranged at an acute angle to one another, and further due to the fact that these axes are angularly disposed relative to one another in both vertical and horizontal directions. This change in the disposition of axle 20 cants or tilts the chopper wheel so that the plane of the wheel changes with respect to the vertical. This in turn has the effect of varying the relative depths of cut taken by the blades 3| and 32 of the respective parallel series.

With the wheel tilted at the angle shown in Fig. 4, it will be seen that the blades 32 of the trailing series are taking a deeper cut than are the blades 3| of the leading series. Now, if the wheel is raised somewhat about the bearing member I8, the plane of the wheel will be, brought more nearly to the vertical and the result of this would be to increase the differential between the depths of cut taken by the blades of the respective series. Conversely, if the wheel is lowered somewhat from` the position shown in Fig. 4, the angle of tilt will be increased and this will have the effect of decreasing the differential between the depths of cut taken by the blades of the respective series. In the construction shown, a wheel supporting member I9 extends through bearing member I8, and thence extends rearwardly, inwardly and downwardly,

terminating in an axle portion 20 on which chopper wheel 2| is mounted. A compression coil spring 22 is arranged to urge the axle downwardly about the axis of the pivotal mounting of member I9 in bearing I8 to control the overall depth of cut. Passing through the coil spring 22 is a rod 23, guided near its upper end where it passes through a hole in a bracket 24 adjustably fastened to the upper end of vertical support I5, and pivoted at its lower end to a bracket 25 fixed to wheel supporting member I9. The spring bears at one end against the aforesaid bracket 24 and at its other end against a stop lug or nut 26 which may be adjustably mounted on rod 23 to regulate the thrust of the spring. Another rod 2'I furnishes an adjustable stop for limiting the depth of cut to a predetermined maximum. This rod is secured at its lower end to a lug 28 welded to member I9, and at its upper end passes freely through a hole in a bracket 28 fastened to the tractor. A lock nut or `pair of lock nuts 3U adjustably regulates the y maximum depth of cut, i. e. the lowermost position of the chopper Wheel.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 4, 5 and l6, we shall now describe the preferred construction of our novel form of chopper wheel. It comprises, in its general arrangement, elongated cutting blades 3|, 32, mounted in pairs around the periphery of the wheel and forming two substantially parallel series of blades. The blades extend lengthwise in the general direction of rotation of the wheel and crosswise at an angle to the axis of rotation of the wheel. In our preferred construction as illustrated the hub assembly comprises a sleeve 33 to which is welded a disc 34 and a collar 35 arranged to extend partly over an end-thrust bearing 36 fixed to axle portion 20 of wheel supporting member I9. Washers or shims 31 are arranged between the inner end of sleeve 33 and thrust bearing 36. The wheel is suitably secured in place on the axle as by means of a pin 38 passing through a hole drilled near the outer end of the axle, and this pin is held in position by a hub cap 39 screwed on the outer end of sleeve 33 and bearing against disc 34. A suitable fitting 40 may be provided for lubrication of the wheel bearing with the use of the usual grease gun. Disc 34 of the hub assembly is drilled to receive the inner ends of spokes 4| which may be welded in place as shown in Fig. 4. Plates 42 have cutout portions 43 to receive the outer ends of the respective spokes to which they are welded. There is a pair of these plates for each spoke, and each plate has two outwardly bent flanges 44,Y 45, arranged at an acute angle to the axis of rotation of the wheel. Blades 3| and 32 are bolted to the pairs of flanges 44 and 45, respectively in the manner clearly shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. The leading edges of blades 3| and 32 are sharpened to furnish cutting edges 45 and 41. The blades thus have the cutting edges of both series, or rows, forwardly directed. The leading blades 3| preferably are somewhat wider than the trailing blades 32 as seen in Fig. 4.

Referring to Fig. 6, which is a detail view of one of the leading blades, note the inwardly turned ends 48. These inwardly turned ends preferably are longer at the leading edge of the blade than at the trailing edge thereof as seen best in Fig. 4 (note the sloping edge 49). Thus the leading blades have pointed inwardly turned ends.

Attention is directed to the fact that the forardedges 46 ofthe leading series of blades are closer-tothe axis of the wheel than are the forward edges 41 of the trailing series of blades (see a, Fig. 4). That is, the overall diameter ofthe trailing series of blades is greater than that ofthe leading series. For example, we have obtained excellent results with a wheel in which these diameters are 171A, and 17, respectively.

rlhe chopper wheels and supporting structure as described preferably are completelyassembled before being mounted on the tractor. Thus, the complete attachment can be easily and quickly mounted on any tractor cultivator beam by fastening the clamps Ill and 29. It is not necessary to remove and then re-set the cultivating tools.

The wheels of our attachment are well adapted to both chopping and blocking of crops. The round spokes 4I help to avoid pulling or damaging the young plants left in the hill. The two parallel series of cutting blades, one following directly in the path of the other, make a double cut which together produce a wide, clean cut of 6 to 8 inches across the row, removing excess plants, weeds and grass between the hills, and also performing an effective mulching job at all cultivating speeds.

The wheels are ground driven by positive traction, and clean and cultivate the soil as they cut across the row, making an evenly-spaced, denite pattern of hills with an average of two to three stalks per hill (where used in chopping cotton), and are fully adjustable. Changing the angle of the wheels in relation to the row will change the down-the-row spacing of the plants. It will be understood that various changes can be made in the design of the wheels without departing from our invention. The six-spoke wheel illustrated in the drawing is well adapted for cutting spaces 9 to 12 inches wide. We have found that where it is desired to cut spaces 6 to 9 inches an eight-spoke wheel is to be preferred, i. e., a wheel having two parallel series of eight blades each, or eight pairs of blades in all. Where it is desired to cut spaces more than 6 inches wide, a twelve-spoke wheel may be used to advantage, and for spaces 3 to 5 inches wide we recommend using a fourteen-spoke wheel. The wheels are interchangeable. Wheels making longer down-the-row spacings are generally used in chopping cotton, and wheels making shorter spacings are generally used in thinning sugar beets, lettuce, carrots, eld seeded tomatoes, broccoli and other row-crop vegetables. Our chopper wheels may also be designed for `mounting on the cultivator tool clamp of tractors for use by those farmers who independently of cultivation.

The terms and expressions which We have employed are used in a descriptive and not a limiting sense, and we have no intention of excluding such equivalents of the invention described, or of portions thereof, as fall within the purview of the claims.

We claim:

1. A row crop chopper for attachment to the cultivator beam of a tractor, comprising a chopper wheel having cutting blades mounted in pairs around its periphery and forming two substantially parallel series of blades with forwardly directed cutting edges, and supporting structure for mounting said wheel on the cultivator beam, said supporting structure including an axle and a pivotal mounting for said axle,

prefer to chop said pivotal f mounting being at an angle substan-tially removed from the vertical and the axis of said axle being disposed at an acute an gle to the axis of said pivotal mounting, whereby the plane of the wheel is automatically adjustable with respect to the vertical to vary the relative depths of cut taken by the blades of the respective parallel series.

2. A row crop chopper for attachment to the cultivator beam of a tractor, comprising a chopper wheel having cutting blades mounted in pairs around its periphery and forming two substantially parallel series of blades with forwardly directed cutting edges, and supporting structure for mounting said wheel on the cultivator beam, said supporting structure including an axle and a pivotal mounting for said axle, said pivotal mounting being at an angle substantially removed from the vertical and the axis of said axle being disposed at an angle in both vertical and horizontal directions relative to the axis of said pivotal mounting.

3. A row crop chopper as dened by claim 1 which includes a spring arranged to urge said axle downwardly about the axis of said pivotal mounting, and an adjustable stop forl limiting the depth of cut to a predetermined maximum.

4. A chopper wheel having leading and trailing elongated cutting blades, said blades being mounted in pairs around its periphery and forming two substantially parallel series, the blades extending lengthwise in the general direction of rotation of the chopper wheel and the blades of the leading series being wider than the blades of the trailing series.

5. A chopper wheel having leading and trailing elongated cutting blades, said blades being mounted in pairs around its periphery and forming two substantially parallel series, the blades extending lengthwise in the general direction of rotation of the chopper wheel and the blades of the leading series being wider than the blades of the trailing series, and the blades of the leading series having pointed inwardly turned ends.

6. A row crop chopper for attachment to the cultivator beam of a tractor, comprising a chopper wheel having parallel rows of cutting blades mounted in pairs around its periphery, said blades having cutting edges of both rows forwardly directed, and said blades extending lengthwise in the general direction of rotation of the chopper wheel.

7. A row crop chopper for attachment to the cultivator beam of a tractor, comprising a chopper wheel having parallel rows of cutting blades mounted in pairs around its periphery, said blades having cutting edges of both rows forwardly directed, and said blades extending crosswise` at an angle to the direction of forward movement of the chopper wheel.

8. A chopper Wheel having leading and trailing cutting blades mounted in pairs around its periphery and forming two substantially parallel series of blades, the diameter of the trailing series of blades being greater than the diameter of the leading series of blades, and the blades of the leading series extending lengthwise in the general direction of rotation of the chopper wheel and having ends turned inwardly toward the center of the Wheel.

9. A row crop chopper for attachment to the cultivator beam of a tractor, comprising a chopper wheel having parallel rows of cutting blades mounted around its periphery, said blades arranged With each blade of one of said parallel rows opposite and parallel to a blade of the oth- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Fleming Apr. 3, 1888 Soddlemyre Apr. 16, 1889 10 Dewey Apr. 8, 1919 Key May 6, 1924 Number Number' Name Date Brotzman Nov. 22, 1938 Evans Dec. 13, 1949 Mayberry Apr. 25, 1950 Mayeld Nov. 7, 1950 Seaman July 3, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Norway Dec. 2, 1912 Austria Jan. 25, 1913 Germany Feb. 6, 1920 

